Erik Neander Explains Rays' Surprise Decision to Not Bring Back Pete Fairbanks

The president of baseball operations recently spoke about why the Tampa Bay Rays let their star closer go.

Oct 7, 2021; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays general manager Erik Neander before game one of the 2021 ALDS at Tropicana Field. | Kim Klement-Imagn Images

The Tampa Bay Rays have started up the offseason with a couple of big decisions already making waves. 

Coming into the winter, the Rays figured to be a team to watch. With new ownership taking over and a couple of veterans who were expected to be potential trade targets, there was always going to be a plethora of news and rumors surrounding the team. 

So far, that has been the case with Tampa Bay making some waves regarding contract options of key players. Coming into the offseason, it seemed like these decisions were going to be easy ones for the franchise, but that turned out not to be the case. 

While the team did pick up the team options on Taylor Walls and Brandon Lowe, they somewhat shockingly declined the option on Pete Fairbanks. While the number for the closer was high, he was projected to be a potential trade option this winter. However, that market apparently never developed for him. 

Erik Neander recently spoke with Adam Berry of MLB and highlighted the challenging decision not to exercise the option of the star closer. 

"We had an idea of the market and different things we could do, but also want to make sure that we have enough maneuverability in the early going to target some other areas of our club that could use some help and improvement,” Neander said. 

Will Letting Fairbanks Go Be Beneficial?

Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

It came as quite a shock when Tampa Bay decided not to exercise the team option on their closer. While the price tag was steep, many believed that the Rays were going to exercise the option and then deal him. Maybe even more surprising is that a market didn’t seem to materialize for him. 

That is very surprising considering the success that he has had as a pitcher with Tampa Bay, but it is early in the offseason, and teams might not have been willing to lock up that type of money on him right away to start the winter. 

For all you gave us and the community, Pete 🩵 pic.twitter.com/euSnHV8uKt

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) November 6, 2025

With multiple needs this winter, the team has elected to spend money that would have gone to Fairbanks elsewhere, which will be interesting to see. If that is going to be the case, Tampa Bay might end up being slightly aggressive in free agency. 

What will also be interesting to monitor is what the plan will be with some of the other veterans on the team now. Since they elected not to bring back Fairbanks, that could be an indication that players like Brandon Lowe and Yandy Diaz might be available.